Every great Giants team has had a TE that other teams had to game plan for. The Bill Parcells teams had Mark Bavaro and Zeke Mowatt. Later on came Jeremy Shockey, Kevin Boss and yes, Jake Ballard.

The current edition of the Giants have the sedentary, but versatile, Bear Pascoe; Brandon Myers, who was rarely in synch with Eli Manning, and Adrien Robinson, who has yet to show Giant fans that he was worthy of fourth round pick in 2012.

With new OC Ben McAdoo, a former TE coach with the Packers, the Giants’ offense once again will demand a significant contribution from the tight end position.

It is unlikely that Pascoe fits in this offense. Myers will probably be let go. Robinson will be given a chance to get his career jumpstarted. But McAdoo will be requiring a Seambreaker, a weapon.

One player that has been mentioned is Andrew Quarless, who played for McAdoo in Green Bay. From Rotoworld:

“Quarless made 10 starts filling in for Jermichael Finley this season, finishing with a career-high 32 catches, 312 yards, and two touchdowns. He has a history with new Giants coordinator Ben McAdoo, who served as the Packers TE coach from 2006-2011, and could be a low-cost option to replace impending free agent Brandon Myers. Second-year TE Adrian Robinson is also expected to be given an opportunity to earn a bigger offensive role in 2014.”

Other available free agent options the Giants may consider:

Jimmy Graham would be costly and there’s no way the Saints let him go.

Dennis Pitta is a possibility, but he missed a chunk of time due to hip surgery. He finished strong, however, but is a Joe Flacco favorite and is likely to stay put.

Brandon Pettigrew came into the league with great promise, but has yet to live up to that.

Like this:

I think Niklas is going to be the best of all the recent ND tight ends coming out of college. He's a 1st rounder and might even go before the Giants have a chance to pick him.He's better, quieter and more durable than Shockey ever was.

Off point but, reading all these articles about tremendous defensive players on both SF and Seattle and wonder what in the world happened to the Giants defense and lack of impact players. I may be off base, but watching Giant games, I get the sense that Prince is totally overrated by Giant fans because everyone else in the secondary is so bad. Also, when did the Giants first decide impact LBs were obsolete? And do TEs really make a difference when the QB and receivers are totally out of synch?

@hashburry Moreover, it all starts in the trenches with the O/Line and since that was a glaring problem it should be the #1 priority. The key position on the line is the Center. There is a dam good one available in free agency by the name of Alex Mack....go get him JR then pick up supporting OG and OT in the draft!

IMHO Defense in General is becoming obsolete. There just aren't that many good ones left. Even historically good defenses like the bears, steelers, ravens, patriots, etc are becoming QB centric and spending less and less on defense. Even Seattle and SF, two of today's "elite" defenses are not the 85 bears, steel curtain, 2000 ravens, or early 2000 Pats. I just don't think the rules are favorable enough to try to win on defense. For 1 game the defense can win (2007 giants/pats) but for the long haul, offense is the way to go.

@hashburry The Giants finished 8th in total defense this year despite having no pass rush. That is why Perry Fewell is still here. They were very strong up the middle. The DT play speaks for itself. Jon Beason shored up the MLB spot and safeties Rolle, Mundy and Hill played very well. I agree they need help at CB, but Prince is above average and I'm not sure there is a better CB vs the run than T2 anywhere in this league.

@chasesimms Shockey was traded to NO before the 2008 season in exchange for a 2nd and a 5th round pick. The Giants chose LB Clint Sintim and QB Rhett Bomar with those picks. Both players are currently out of football.

For the Saints, He caught a TD late in the game in SB XLIV to give NO the lead for good against the Colts. He finished his career with Carolina in 2011.

@Arthur Whitehead .... As important as a Center is, they are not more important than protecting a QB's blind side. That's what makes LT the most overpaid position on the offensive line in the NFL, because of the needed protection against edge rushers on the defense. As badly as we need a decent Center, someone with better talent than Beatty is who I would prefer as an OL priority. If we could upgrade LT, we would be upgrading 2 other positions simultaneously, because Beatty would be shifted to RT where he belongs, and Pugh would be shifted to RG where he belongs. If we signed Mack, we would be upgrading the Center position only. If you are going to spend a BIG contract on one offensive lineman, it's obvious the best position to spend that money on would be a Left Tackle. We could survive with just an average or better than average Center, as most teams already do.